True, I just don't think Leopold likes Viper for the... same reasons I do.

marklungo wrote:Of course, this is the scene I was referring to earlier.

Ah, well, the passengers only scream as grub worms are already leaving. Scream discretion shot or not, I don't think we're supposed to infer that the acid flooded the entire train and melted everyone. If there were any fatalities in that scene I think it would've only been the motorman, since the grub only sprays the driving cabin.

Now it's time to wrap this up.

Somehow or other, the SWAT Kats figure out where giant bugs are heading and get to the nuclear power plant just slightly ahead of them. The grub worms spew acid on the Turbo Mole, forcing the SWAT Kats to bail. I guess this means the Turbo Mole is toast. Again. While the grubs are keeping our heroes busy, though, the giant scarab has broken into the reactor core (this is the third time this thing has been breached) and is gobbling up fuel rods. So that part of its Ci-Kat-A nature remains, at least. This is causing him to grow bigger and bigger just like the Ci-Kat-A queen did when she binged on nuclear fuel rods.

And Dr. Viper is there. Yeah, he just is. Even though he isn't described as accompanying the bugs or following them or even arriving at the power plant, he's just suddenly... there. He assists his creations in battling the SWAT Kats to keep them away from the scarab. And I guess he really is immune to radiation if he's going to be on site when the meltdown happens, unless he has a really good, quick escape plan.

Like the scarab, the grub worms are armored and impervious to pretty much whatever the vigilantes throw at them. (Mini?) Turbo Blades fail tp penetrate their thick hides and Scrambler Missiles fail to electrocute them. As Peter Venkman would say, the usual stuff isn't working.

Meltdown is moments away. Glenn Leopold doesn't describe this, but I think it's because when the scarab breached the reactor core, it smashed the water tank containing the fuel rods, and without the water to cool them, they're overheating faster than the huge bug can gobble them up. At least I think this is what is causing the meltdown. I'm no nuclear physicists. But if this is the case, why did this cause a meltdown the last two times the reactor was breached? The Creeplings took their sweet time packing the fuel rods into the carrying case and the Ci-Kat-A queen didn't eat that many of them before she started growing huge. By the logic (I'm guessing) Leopold is going with here, the whole plant should've experienced meltdown in both those previous instances, meaning Megakat City should be glowing in the dark twice over. So why is it only a threat now? Eh, because it needs to be. The end.

Or is it because the scarab is eating so much radioactive material and growing so huge it's gonna blow up like Viper's spore pod in Destructive Nature? No, that isn't the case, I realize, as Razor says they need to cool the overheating fuel rods in the reactor down. So he's got a plan to flood the whole building. Meanwhile, Dr. Viper, despite being so close to victory it doesn't matter if the vigilantes continue living for another five minutes or not, suddenly orders the giant scarab to abandon eating its way through he reactor and go kill them.

So it turns out Razor's plan is to use himself and T-Bone as "bug bait" and goad the giant bugs into chasing them. So, wait, if the SWAT Kats can goad these things into abandoning their mission and chasing them, the story doesn't need Viper to suddenly stupidly stop his plan to order the scarab to kill them. That was going to happen anyway. If anything, he should be flapping his arms, enraged that his creations are disobeying him to pursue the SWAT Kats when they're so close to victory.

Utilizing their turbo-powered rollerblades, the SWAT Kats get the bugs to chase them through the power plant. At first I thought Razor's plan was going to be to get them to chase them outside to the shore; in all its appearances (yes, even The Wrath of Dark Kat), the nuclear power plant is adjacent to Megakat Bay, so I thought that the SWAT Kats were gonna get the bugs to unintentionally dig a channel from the building to the water, allowing the ocean to flow in and flood the reactor, cooling the overheating fuel rods down. Instead, they end up in one of the smokestack/cooling tower things, where they zoom around the inside and trick the bugs into smashing a water valve. Screw the ocean! The power plant's own water supply is sufficient to flood the building and cool down those overheating rods!

Heh... overheating rods.

But a new problem arises; the power plant has such an enormous water supply that breaking this one valve isn't just flooding the entire facility, it's filling up the cooling tower. With the water level rising, the SWAT Kats skate up the slightly inclined interior of the tower. Below them, the grub worms, who can't swim or climb very well, are trapped and drowning (alas, poor Taylor). But the scarab climbs up after the SWAT Kats ahead of the rising water, biting at their heels (which should meant it's getting a face full of their rollerblades' black blast, but whatever). Suddenly Felina appears in a chopper and blasts a hole through the side of the tower, knocking the giant scarab loose (and somehow avoiding doing the same to the SWAT Kats).

The scarab falls back down the cooling tower interior, with a generous helping of debris falling after it. This falling debris ensures that all the mutant bugs, including the scarab, are either crushed or sink and drown, ending their threat.

Visual Approximation #6. Also a fitting one, as it features another disappointing rendition of a villain fall down a nuclear reactor cooling tower.

Bragging that "unlike those stupid bugs" (hey, you created 'em, genius), he can swim, Dr. Viper escapes into Megakat Bay through the smashed open valve. Ah, so that explains why there was so much water - the power plant's cooling water supply comes directly from the ocean. So I was right about them using the waters of Megakat Bay, just wrong about how. Would've been nice if you'd established that this pipe led to the ocean earlier, Glenn.

After the ordeal is over, T-Bone takes the opportunity to, um, boast about how he won the imaginary race to the top of the cooling tower he and Razor were having? Huh? Whatever. He uses scratches from the scarab's mandibles on the backs of Razor's skates as proof that Razor was behind. But it turns out T-Bone has the same bite marks on his rollerblades, too. As they depart, they pass Ann Gora, who is reporting on the incident, and mumble about whether they can "get can instant replay," which would be impossible unless Jonny was filming the chase up the side of the tower interior from the news chopper... which I'm not sure he did as this bit with Ann reporting on the ground is the first indication that the media are even present on the scene.

And with that, The Doctors of Doom ends... with the surprising revelation that this was intended to be be season two's finale!

Last edited by Kooshmeister on Thu Dec 14, 2017 1:18 am, edited 1 time in total.

Okay, time to sum up. "The Doctors of Doom" is the least interesting of the three unfinished episodes. Between its derivative nature, the missed opportunity of Gray Taylor, the sheer silliness of the rollerblading scenes, and its overall mediocrity, it would have made a weak finale to SWAT Kats' generally strong second season. (And if it's meant to be a companion piece to "Katastrophe"--a spectacular villain team-up to end the season with a louder bang than usual--then it really suffers in comparison.) While I wouldn't mind seeing it finally produced if Revolution ever gets off the ground, it could use a rewrite or two.